1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to caulking guns, and particularly to caulking guns that utilize pre-filled cartridges of caulking, gluing or sealing material. More particularly, it relates to a dual-barrel cartridge caddy that holds two charges of soft-sided fill material packs and allows quick loading replacement of one charge with another, saving operator time and effort.
2. Description of Related Art
Caulking guns, as they are generally known, comprise a class of construction and repair tools that expel caulk, glue, sealant or other fill material with greater precision than likely with trowels, putty knives or the like. Caulking guns usually have a tubular container for the fill material held in a elongate body, with a gun-like hand grip containing controls for operating a piston to push on one end of the container and expel a bead of fill material out the tip of a nozzle on the other end. Two general classes of caulking guns are distinguished largely by whether or not they operate using disposable, pre-filled cartridges with built in nozzles or have fill material cartridges integral with the gun and utilize soft-sided packs. In either case, caulking guns may include pneumatic or hydraulic powered actions to apply pressure to the piston, but most are simple, mechanical devices with a ratcheted plunger that moves the piston in response to squeezing a lever on the hand grip. This invention relates to a caddy having re-useable barrels that allows use of soft-sided fill material packs in guns designed for prefilled, replaceable cartridges.
In using a caulking gun of the type contemplated by the present invention, a user selects and inserts a pre-filled cartridge into the caulking gun and engages the piston against the butt of the cartridge. As he draws a uniform bead of the material onto the work site with the nozzle, the user applies steady pressure to the piston until it reaches its maximum insertion into the cartridge, whereupon the cartridge has been exhausted and must be replaced. The user then retracts the piston, removes and stows the spent cartridge while reaching for a fresh cartridge which he inserts it into the gun, all with one hand while he holds the gun with the other hand.
Refill cartridges are approximately twelve inches in length and two inches in diameter and, depending upon the material in them, can weigh a significant amount. Especially if the user needs to have several at his disposal for a given job, managing multiple refill cartridges can become cumbersome. Sometimes the user must either carry all the cartridges he needs with him, or descend and re-ascend a ladder to retrieve a fresh cartridge and dispose of a spent one each time he empties a cartridge. Means for easing the cartridge handling and replacement operation would save time and trouble for the user.
For industrial grade caulking guns with built-in barrels, soft-sided refill packs of fill material represent a substantial cost savings over pre-filled cartridges of comparable size. They cannot, however, be used in the more commonplace, less expensive caulking guns which have no barrels and are designed to use disposable cartridges. Means for using soft-sided recharge packs in such caulking guns would prove valuable to many contractors.